[3] One of the eight most important pilgrimage sites for Buddhists, the Dhamek Stupa marks the location where the Buddha gave his first teaching to his first five disciples Kaundinya, Assaji, Bhaddiya, Vappa and Mahanama.

[4] According to the Lalitavistara sutra, the Buddha said he chooses "Deer Park by the Hill of the Fallen Sages, outside of Varanasi" for the location of his first teachings of Buddhism.

[5] According to the Lalitavistara sutra, when the Buddha decided to teach, he chose "Deer Park by the Hill of the Fallen Sages, outside of Varanasi".

The basement seems to have survived from Ashoka's structure, while the stone facing displays delicate floral carvings characteristic of the Gupta era.

Dhamek Stupa marks the location where the Buddha gave his first teaching to his first five disciples Kaundinya, Assaji, Bhaddiya, Vappa and Mahanama.

Several of the ancient sources describe the site of this first teaching as a Mriga-dayaa-vanam or a sanctuary for animals, which was the founding reason for the establishment of Deer Park by a local king.

[6] In what is the first incontrovertible reference to the ruins at Sarnath, Jonathan Duncan (a charter member of the Asiatic Society and later Governor of Bombay) described the discovery of a green marble reliquary encased in a sandstone box in the relic chamber of a brick stupa at that location.